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Zimbabwe played their first Test in April 1992. Their initial efforts led them to be rated above the Sri Lankans, who had already been playing Test cricket for a decade. For the next three years, Sri Lanka began to close the gap to Zimbabwe.
From late 1995 until October 1999, the two nations battled for eighth and ninth places in the ratings with Zimbabwe generally being rated above Sri Lanka.
In late 1999, however, Zimbabwe suffered a disastrous period that saw their rating drop by 50 points to 918 ratings points. Zimbabwe then managed to gradually improve their rating to 939 points by January this year. However, since then Zimbabwe has suffered another calamitous period, which has been capped off by their loss to India in both Tests in this series.
Zimbabwe's inability to hold off the Indian challenge during this series has seen their rating plummet to its lowest level ever of 911 points.
Zimbabwe remains wedged in ninth place in the ratings with little hope of improving their position in the foreseeable future. A seemingly insurmountable gap of 95 ratings points now separates them to eighth placed West Indies. A similarly imposing 73-point gap keeps them above tenth placed Bangladesh.
The Zimbabweans has won only one of their last ten Tests, with six losses and three draws. In the series against India, Zimbabwe went to pieces at critical moments when they were batting. None of the batsmen were able to consistently score runs. The strategy of removing the wicket keeping duties from Andy Flower was not a success as he only managed one innings in four of any substance.
The fall in the Zimbabweans rating has coincided with political unrest at home. It is probably not a coincidence. Many players come from the farms that are at risk of being illegally occupied by black 'war veterans'. The president of the beleaguered country has admitted that no effort was made to stop the occupations.
On top of this, their country is currently in the grip of an election campaign that suffers from intimidatory gangs roaming the country and electoral dirty tricks campaigns.
Concern is sufficiently high that independent foreign observers are in place. Pending their report to the Commonwealth Heads of Government, Zimbabwe may well be banned from the Commonwealth political group and sanctions may be imposed.
The immediate future looks rather dim for the Test team. If they are not subjected to international sanctions in the next six weeks then they may find the Australia Test team arriving ? subject to security concerns.
Not even the most optimistic supporter would give Zimbabwe a snow flakes chance in hell of even drawing one of these Tests without a final three full days of rain. Another ratings low looks imminent.
Alternatively, if sanctions are imposed, then potential opposition could be limited to Pakistan - the other nation currently suspended by the Commonwealth.
The outlook for India is infinitely brighter. India has now won four of their last ten Tests with three losses and three draws. The Indians retain sixth place in the ratings and have climbed to within one rating point of fifth placed Sri Lanka. India's rating of 1039 points is its highest rating since January 1999.
India appear to have recovered from a ratings slump that started in mid 1998 when their rating fell from 1053 points to bottom out at 1008 points in mid 2000. Since then they have recovered to 1039 points - their highest rating since January 1999.
India's next challenge will be a four Test series in the Caribbean. India has a very poor touring record over the last decade. They last won a series abroad in 1993 against Sri Lanka. The West Indian series provides India with an opportunity to turn around their poor record away from home and hurtle up through the rankings.
There is one final observation about the health of Test cricket on the world stage that arises from the series between Zimbabwe and India. The series was the sixth successive Test series to end in a whitewash.
While most fans would hope their own teams would win well, the consistent number of whitewashes is not a good symptom for the long-term health of Test cricket. There has never been such a lopsided period in Test cricket history.
Latest Ratings: 1. Australia (1213); 2. South Africa (1136); 3. Pakistan (1081); 4. England (1049); 5. Sri Lanka (1040); 6. India (1039); 7. New Zealand (1022); 8. West Indies (1006); 9. Zimbabwe (911); 10. Bangladesh (838).
